Udta Punjab : Rajeev Ravi slammed the attitude of Censor board of India

Now the hot topic in Indian cinema is the ban on Udta Punjab movie by Censor Board of India. The censor board had ordered almost 89 cutes in the film including changes in its dialogues and title of the film. Protest is raising in India against this attitude by censor board and now popular cinematographer and director Rajeev Ravi also came up and slammed the attitude of censor board. He said that, what censor board is doing is the clear denial of freedom of expression and freedom of artistic creation in India.

Rajeev Ravi directorial Malayalam film Kammattipaadam also faced this kind of attitude from censor board as many major dialogue portions from the film had to be removed as per the instructions from censor board and they also given an Adults Only certificate to the movie which had affected it big time. Rajeev Ravi is the one who directed the photography in Udta Punjab, which is produced by popular Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap.

Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhatt playing the lead in this movie which is said to be based on the drug mafia in Punjab. Rajeev Ravi says that what they telling is not at all an agreeable thing. Cutting away 89 parts from a movie is just like giving away the essence of that film. It is the clear cut denial of freedom of expression and speech.

He said our country is a democratic country and freedom of expression through cinema is a democratic right. Rajeev openly said that the censor board is clearly destroying the soul of democracy by these kind of attitude towards cinema in our country. Earlier this was not the situation and there was the freedom to make artistic creations and express through media.

He asks that how we can agree to an instruction from the board when they says that the name Punjab can’t be used in a film which is based on Punjab..? Those scenes which they want to be cut down from Udta Punjab is essential to tell the story as those scenes have to be there to portray the culture of a state.